FR Doc 04-1884
[Federal Register: January 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 19)]
[Notices]
[Page 4314-4315]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29ja04-63]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains in the control of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC.
The human remains were removed from the vicinity of Fort Robinson, NE.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3).
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the
Native American human remains. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Bureau of
Indian Affairs professional staff in consultation with representatives
of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux
Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule
Reservation, South Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee
Reservation of Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota;
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux
Tribe of South Dakota.
In 1879, human remains representing a minimum of one individual
were recovered from the vicinity of Fort Robinson, Dawes and Sioux
Counties, NE. Assistant Surgeon W.B. Brewster shipped the skull and
mandible of the individual, along with the remains of eight other
individuals, to the Army Medical Museum, Washington, DC, in 1880. At an
unknown date, the human remains were acquired by Major General Joseph
L. Bernier who had worked as a pathologist with the U.S. Army and had
served several years cataloging the Army Medical Museum collections.
Major General Bernier's son, Joseph Bernier, D.D.S., discovered the
human remains in his father's personal effects and felt they should be
returned to their homeland. In August 2002, Dr. Bernier donated the
remains to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southern Plains Region, Concho
Agency, El Reno, OK. The National Museum of Health and Medicine,
formerly the Army Medical Museum, has been contacted regarding the
human remains and has not asserted control over them. Accompanying the
human remains is a weathered 1.5-by-4-inch card with the following
typed information: ``7023 Path. Series. Shot fracture and perforation
of skull: one bullet entered thro [sic] right parietal, emerged thro
[sic] left temporal; Cheyenne Indian, killed near Fort Robinson,
Nebraska, January, 1879. W.B. Brewster, Asst. Surg. U.S.A.'' On the
back of the card was written in pencil: ``D Knife.'' No known
individual was identified. No funerary objects are present.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs notified all Indian tribes that were
likely to be culturally affiliated with the human remains or from whose
aboriginal lands the human remains originated, including the Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne
River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South
Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South
Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation,
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation,
South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska;
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. The
notification stated that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had the human
remains under its control and was beginning the process of determining
the cultural affiliation of the human remains.
Following consultation, representatives of the Cheyenne-Arapaho
Tribes of Oklahoma and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne
Indian Reservation, Montana agreed that the human remains and
accompanying card should be examined by the staff of the Smithsonian
Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Repatriation Office. A
review of the Army Medical Museum archives, now part of the National
Museum of Health and Medicine, indicates that Path. Series 7023 was
assigned to a skull of a Cheyenne male who was killed near Fort
Robinson in 1879. The skull identified as Path. Series 7023 is
unaccounted for in the National Museum of Health and Medicine
collection. The paper, typing, and format of the card accompanying the
human remains is similar to cards typically used by the Army Medical
Museum. The pencilled note on the back of the card may refer to Dull
Knife, the Cheyenne leader of the Fort Robinson breakout on January 9,
1879. Dull Knife was nearly 70 years old at the time and survived the
Fort Robinson breakout. Physical examination
[[Page 4315]]
indicates that the human remains are from a 25-30-year-old male. The
condition of the skull indicates that it was obtained shortly after
death. Measurements of the skull are nearly identical to the
measurements for Path. Series 7023 in the Army Medical Museum archives.
Comparison of measurements from the skull with measurements from skulls
from several Plains tribes indicates that the Cheyenne and Sioux are
the most likely groups for biological affinity. A discriminant analysis
of the measurements indicates that the skull is much more similar to
the Sioux group, but a Cheyenne affiliation cannot be excluded. The
human remains are currently in the possession of the Smithsonian
Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Repatriation Office.
Representatives of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne
River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South
Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South
Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota;
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota;
Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; Sisseton-
Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota;
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North &
South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota have agreed to
the repatriation of the human remains to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of
Oklahoma and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian
Reservation, Montana.
Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined that,
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(2)(B), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be clearly traced between the Native
American human remains and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation,
Montana. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs also have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(2)(C), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native
American human remains and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the
Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of
South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation,
South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South
Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South
Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska;
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Carolyn
McClellan, National Collections Manager and NAGPRA Coordinator, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street NW, MS-2472-MIB, Washington, DC,
telephone (202) 208-4401, before March 1, 2004. Repatriation of the
human remains to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and Northern
Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana may
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for notifying the
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the
Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of
South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation,
South Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation,
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation,
South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska;
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota that this
notice has been published.
Dated: December 8, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-1884 Filed 1-28-04; 8:45 am]
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